Personal area network apparatus

ABSTRACT

A peripheral device comprises a first entity and a second entity. In operation, the first/second entities are configured to respectively: receive a first/second entity-related message from at least one other device to indicate the availability of the at least one other device for attachment, send, to the at least one other device, a first/second entity-related message indicating the availability for communication with the at least one other device, receive, from the at least one other device, a first/second entity-related signal including a first/second entity-related peripheral device identifier, send a first/second entity-related response to the at least one other device, receive, from the at least one other device, a first/second entity-related device response, and send, to the at least one other device, a first/second entity-related second peripheral response including the first/second entity-related peripheral device identifier.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/430,650 filed on Mar. 26, 2012, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 12/699,846 filed on Feb. 3, 2010, now U.S.Pat. No. 8,149,829, which is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/728,246 filed on Mar. 23, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,756,129,which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/894,406filed on Jul. 19, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,218,633, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/535,591 filed onMar. 27, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,804,232, which is related to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/536,191 filed on Mar. 27, 2000, all ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for allpurposes.

BACKGROUND AND FIELD OF THE INVENTION

A. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to networking and, more particularly, to adata network.

B. Description of Related Art

Over the last decade, the size and power consumption of digitalelectronic devices has been progressively reduced. For example, personalcomputers have evolved from laptops and notebooks into hand-held orbelt-carriable devices commonly referred to as personal digitalassistants (PDAs). One area of carriable devices that has remainedtroublesome, however, is the coupling of peripheral devices or sensorsto the main processing unit of the PDA. Generally, such coupling isperformed through the use of connecting cables. The connecting cablesrestrict the handling of a peripheral in such a manner as to lose manyof the advantages inherent in the PDA's small size and light weight. Fora sensor, for example, that occasionally comes into contact with thePDA, the use of cables is particularly undesirable.

While some conventional systems have proposed linking a keyboard or amouse to a main processing unit using infrared or radio frequency (RF)communications, such systems have typically been limited to a singleperipheral unit with a dedicated channel of low capacity.

Based on the foregoing, it is desirable to develop a low power datanetwork that provides highly reliable bidirectional data communicationbetween a host or server processor unit and a varying number ofperipheral units and/or sensors while avoiding interference from nearbysimilar systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Systems and methods consistent with the present invention address thisneed by providing a wireless personal area network that permits a hostunit to communicate with peripheral units with minimal interference fromneighboring systems.

A system consistent with the present invention includes a hub device andat least one unattached peripheral device. The unattached peripheraldevice transmits an attach request to the hub device with a selectedaddress, receives a new address from the hub device to identify theunattached peripheral device, and communicates with the hub device usingthe new address.

In another implementation consistent with the present invention, amethod for attaching an unattached peripheral device to a network havinga hub device connected to multiple peripheral devices, includesreceiving an attach request from the unattached peripheral device, theattach request identifying the unattached peripheral device to the hubdevice; generating a new address to identify the unattached peripheraldevice in response to the received attach request; sending the newaddress to the unattached peripheral device; and sending a confirmationmessage to the unattached peripheral device using the new address toattach the unattached peripheral device.

In yet another implementation consistent with the present invention, amethod for attaching an unattached peripheral device to a network havinga hub device connected to a set of peripheral devices, includestransmitting an attach request with a selected address to the hubdevice; receiving a new address from the hub device to identify theunattached peripheral device; and attaching to the network using the newaddress.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the inventionand, together with the description, explain the invention. In thedrawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a personal area network (PAN) in which systemsand methods consistent with the present invention may be implemented;

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of the Hub of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of a PEA of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a software architecture of a Hub or PEA inan implementation consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram of communication processing by the layersof the software architecture of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram of a data block architecture within theDCL of the Hub and PEA in an implementation consistent with the presentinvention;

FIG. 7A is a detailed diagram of an exemplary stream usage plan in animplementation consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 7B is a detailed diagram of an exemplary stream usage assignment inan implementation consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is an exemplary diagram of a time division multiple access (TDMA)frame structure in an implementation consistent with the presentinvention;

FIG. 9A is a detailed diagram of activity within the Hub and PEAaccording to a TDMA plan consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 9B is a flowchart of the Hub activity of FIG. 9A;

FIG. 9C is a flowchart of the PEA activity of FIG. 9A;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are high-level diagrams of states that the Hub and PEAtraverse during a data transfer in an implementation consistent with thepresent invention;

FIGS. 11 and 12 are flowcharts of Hub and PEA attachment processing,respectively, consistent with the present invention; and

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of PEA detachment and reattachment processingconsistent with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description of the invention refers to theaccompanying drawings. The same reference numbers in different drawingsidentify the same or similar elements. Also, the following detaileddescription does not limit the invention. Instead, the scope of theinvention is defined by the appended claims.

Systems and methods consistent with the present invention provide awireless personal area network that permits a host device to communicatewith a varying number of peripheral devices with minimal interferencefrom neighboring networks. The host device uses tokens to manage all ofthe communication in the network, and automatic attachment anddetachment mechanisms to communicate with the peripheral devices.

Network Overview

A Personal Area Network (PAN) is a local network that interconnectscomputers with devices (e.g., peripherals, sensors, actuators) withintheir immediate proximity. These devices may be located nearby and mayfrequently or occasionally come within range and go out of range of thecomputer. Some devices may be embedded within an infrastructure (e.g., abuilding or vehicle) so that they can become part of a PAN as needed.

A PAN, in an implementation consistent with the present invention, haslow power consumption and small size, supports wireless communicationwithout line-of-sight limitations, supports communication among networksof multiple devices (over 100 devices), and tolerates interference fromother PAN systems operating within the vicinity. A PAN can also beeasily integrated into a broad range of simple and complex devices, islow in cost, and is capable of being used worldwide.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a PAN 100 consistent with the present invention.The PAN 100 includes a single Hub device 110 surrounded by multiplePersonal Electronic Accessory (PEA) devices 120 configured in a startopology. Other topologies may also be possible. Each device isidentified by a Media Access (MAC) address.

The Hub 110 orchestrates all communication in the PAN 100, whichconsists of communication between the Hub 110 and one or more PEA(s)120. The Hub 110 manages the timing of the network, allocates availablebandwidth among the currently attached PEAs 120 participating in the PAN100, and supports the attachment, detachment, and reattachment of PEAs120 to and from the PAN 100.

The Hub 110 may be a stationary device or may reside in some sort ofwearable computer, such as a simple pager-like device, that may movefrom peripheral to peripheral. The Hub 110 could, however, include otherdevices.

The PEAs 120 may vary dramatically in terms of their complexity. A verysimple PEA might include a movement sensor having an accelerometer, an8-bit microcontroller, and a PAN interface. An intermediate PEA mightinclude a bar code scanner and its microcontroller. More complex PEAsmight include PDAs, cellular telephones, or even desktop PCs andworkstations. The PEAs may include stationary devices located near theHub and/or portable devices that move to and away from the Hub.

The Hub 110 and PEAs 120 communicate using multiplexed communicationover a predefined set of streams. Logically, a stream is a one-waycommunications link between one PEA 120 and its Hub 110. Each stream hasa predetermined size and direction. The Hub 110 uses stream numbers toidentify communication channels for specific functions (e.g., data andcontrol).

The Hub 110 uses MAC addresses to identify itself and the PEAs 120. TheHub 110 uses its own MAC address to broadcast to all PEAs 120. The Hub110 might also use MAC addresses to identify virtual PEAs within any onephysical PEA 120. The Hub 110 combines a MAC address and a stream numberinto a token, which it broadcasts to the PEAs 120 to controlcommunication through the network 100. The PEA 120 responds to the Hub110 if it identifies its own MAC address or the Hub MAC address in thetoken and if the stream number in the token is active for the MACaddress of the PEA 120.

Exemplary Hub Device

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of the Hub 110 of FIG. 1. The Hub110 may be a battery-powered device that includes Hub host 210, digitalcontrol logic 220, radio frequency (RF) transceiver 230, and an antenna240.

Hub host 210 may include anything from a simple microcontroller to ahigh performance microprocessor. The digital control logic (DCL) 220 mayinclude a controller that maintains timing and coordinates theoperations of the Hub host 210 and the RF transceiver 230. The DCL 220is specifically designed to minimize power consumption, cost, and sizeof the Hub 110. Its design centers around a time-division multipleaccess (TDMA)-based network access protocol that exploits the shortrange nature of the PAN 100. The Hub host 210 causes the DCL 220 toinitialize the network 100, send tokens and messages, and receivemessages. Responses from the DCL 220 feed incoming messages to the Hubhost 210.

The RF transceiver 230 includes a conventional RF transceiver thattransmits and receives information via the antenna 240. The RFtransceiver 230 may alternatively include separate transmitter andreceiver devices controlled by the DCL 220. The antenna 240 includes aconventional antenna for transmitting and receiving information over thenetwork.

While FIG. 2 shows the exemplary Hub 110 as consisting of three separateelements, these elements may be physically implemented in one or moreintegrated circuits. For example, the Hub host 210 and the DCL 220, theDCL 220 and the RF transceiver 230, or the Hub host 210, the DCL 220,and the RF transceiver 230 may be implemented as a single integratedcircuit or separate integrated circuits. Moreover, one skilled in theart will recognize that the Hub 110 may include additional elements thataid in the sending, receiving, and processing of data.

Exemplary PEA Device

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of the PEA 120. The PEA 120 may bea battery-powered device that includes a PEA host 310, DCL 320, RFtransceiver 330, and an antenna 340. The PEA host 310 may include asensor that responds to information from a user, an actuator thatprovides output to the user, a combination of a sensor and an actuator,or more complex circuitry, as described above.

The DCL 320 may include a controller that coordinates the operations ofthe PEA host 310 and the RF transceiver 330. The DCL 320 sequences theoperations necessary in establishing synchronization with the Hub 110,in data communications, in coupling received information from the RFtransceiver 330 to the PEA host 310, and in transmitting data from thePEA host 310 back to the Hub 110 through the RF transceiver 330.

The RF transceiver 330 includes a conventional RF transceiver thattransmits and receives information via the antenna 340. The RFtransceiver 330 may alternatively include separate transmitter andreceiver devices controlled by the DCL 320. The antenna 340 includes aconventional antenna for transmitting and receiving information over thenetwork.

While FIG. 3 shows the exemplary PEA 120 as consisting of three separateelements, these elements may be physically implemented in one or moreintegrated circuits. For example, the PEA host 310 and the DCL 320, theDCL 320 and the RF transceiver 330, or the PEA host 310, the DCL 320,and the RF transceiver 330 may be implemented as a single integratedcircuit or separate integrated circuits. Moreover, one skilled in theart will recognize that the PEA 120 may include additional elements thataid in the sending, receiving, and processing of data.

Exemplary Software Architecture

FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram of a software architecture 400 of the Hub110 in an implementation consistent with the present invention. Thesoftware architecture 400 in the PEA 120 has a similar structure. Thesoftware architecture 400 includes several distinct layers, eachdesigned to serve a specific purpose, including: (1) application 410,(2) link layer control (LLC) 420, (3) network interface (NI) 430, (4)link layer transport (LLT) 440, (5) link layer driver (LLD) 450, and (6)DCL hardware 460. The layers have application programming interfaces(APIs) to facilitate communication with lower layers. The LLD 450 is thelowest layer of software. Each layer may communicate with the nexthigher layer via procedural upcalls that the higher layer registers withthe lower layer.

The application 410 may include any application executing on the Hub110, such as a communication routine. The LLC 420 performs severalmiscellaneous tasks, such as initialization, attachment support,bandwidth control, and token planning. The LLC 420 orchestrates deviceinitialization, including the initialization of the other layers in thesoftware architecture 400, upon power-up.

The LLC 420 provides attachment support by providing attachmentopportunities for unattached PEAs to attach to the Hub 110 so that theycan communicate, providing MAC address assignment, and initializing anNI 430 and the layers below it for communication with a PEA 120. The LLC420 provides bandwidth control through token planning. Through the useof tokens, the LLC 420 allocates bandwidth to permit one PEA 120 at atime to communicate with the Hub 110.

The NI 430 acts on its own behalf, or for an application 410 layer aboveit, to deliver data to the LLT 440 beneath it. The LLT 440 provides anordered, reliable “snippet” (i.e., a data block) delivery service forthe NI 430 through the use of encoding (e.g., 16-64 bytes of data plus acyclic redundancy check (CRC)) and snippet retransmission. The LLT 440accepts snippets, in order, from the NI 430 and delivers them usingencoded status blocks (e.g., up to 2 bytes of status informationtranslated through Forward Error Correction (FEC) into 6 bytes) foracknowledgments (ACKs).

The LLD 450 is the lowest level of software in the software architecture400. The LLD 450 interacts with the DCL hardware 460. The LLD 450initializes and updates data transfers via the DCL hardware 460 as itdelivers and receives data blocks for the LLT 440, and processeshardware interrupts. The DCL hardware 460 is the hardware driven by theLLD 450.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary diagram of communication processing by the layersof the software architecture 400 of FIG. 4. In FIG. 5, the exemplarycommunications involve the transmission of a snippet from one node toanother. This example assumes that the sending node is the Hub 110 andthe receiving node is a PEA 120. Processing begins with the NI 430 ofthe Hub 110 deciding to send one or more bytes (but no more than willfit) in a snippet. The NI 430 exports the semantics that only onetransaction is required to transmit these bytes to their destination(denoted by “(1)” in the figure). The NI 430 sends a unique identifierfor the destination PEA 120 of the snippet to the LLT 440. The LLT 440maps the PEA identifier to the MAC address assigned to the PEA 120 bythe Hub 110.

The LLT 440 transmits the snippet across the network to the receivingdevice. To accomplish this, the LLT 440 adds header information (toindicate, for example, how many bytes in the snippet are padded bytes)and error checking information to the snippet, and employsreverse-direction status/acknowledgment messages and retransmissions.This is illustrated in FIG. 5 by the bidirectional arrow between the LLT440 layers marked with “(n+m).” The number n of snippet transmissionsand the number m of status transmissions in the reverse direction aremostly a function of the amount of noise in the wireless communication,which may be highly variable. The LLT 440 may also encrypt portions orall of the snippet using known encryption technology.

The LLT 440 uses the LLD 450 to provide a basic block andstream-oriented communications service, isolating the DCL 460 interfacefrom the potentially complex processing required of the LLT 440. The LLT440 uses multiple stream numbers to differentiate snippet and statusblocks so that the LLD 450 need not know which blocks contain what kindof content. The LLD 450 reads and writes the hardware DCL 460 to triggerthe transmission and reception of data blocks. The PEA LLT 440, throughthe PEA LLD 450, instructs the PEA DCL 460 which MAC address oraddresses to respond to, and which stream numbers to respond to for eachMAC address. The Hub LLT 440, through the Hub LLD 450, instructs the HubDCL 460 which MAC addresses and stream numbers to combine into tokensand transmit so that the correct PEA 120 will respond. The Hub DCL 460sends and receives (frequently in a corrupted form) the data blocksacross the RF network via the Hub RF transceiver 230 (FIG. 2).

The Hub LLT 440 employs FEC for status, checksums and error checking forsnippets, and performs retransmission control for both to ensure thateach snippet is delivered reliably to its client (e.g., PEA LLT 440).The PEA LLT 440 delivers snippets in the same order that they were sentby the Hub NI 430 to the PEA NI 430. The PEA NI 430 takes the one ormore bytes sent in the snippets and delivers them in order to thehigher-level application 410, thereby completing the transmission.

Exemplary DCL Data Block Architecture

FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram of a data block architecture 600 withinthe DCL of the Hub 110 and the PEA 120. The data block 600 contains aMAC address 610 designating a receiving or sending PEA 120, a streamnumber 620 for the communication, and a data buffer 630 which is fullwhen sending and empty when receiving. As will be described later, theMAC address 610 and stream number 620 form the contents of a token 640.When the LLD 450 reads from and writes to the hardware DCL 460, the LLD450 communicates the MAC address 610 and stream number 620 with the databuffer 630. When a PEA 120 receives a data block, the DCL 460 places theMAC address 610 and stream number 620 contained in the preceding token640 in the data block 600 to keep track of the different data flows.

Exemplary Stream Architecture

The LLD 450 provides a multi-stream data transfer service for the LLT440. While the LLT 440 is concerned with data snippets andstatus/acknowledgements, the LLD 450 is concerned with the size of datablocks and the direction of data transfers to and from the Hub 110.

FIG. 7A is a detailed diagram of an exemplary stream usage plan 700 inan implementation consistent with the present invention. A single streamusage plan may be predefined and used by the Hub 110 and all PEAs 120.The PEA 120 may have a different set of active streams for each MACaddress it supports, and only responds to a token that specifies a MACaddress of the PEA 120 and a stream that is active for that MAC address.In an implementation consistent with the present invention, every PEA120 may support one or more active Hub-to-PEA streams associated withthe Hub's MAC address.

The stream usage plan 700 includes several streams 710-740, each havinga predefined size and data transfer direction. The plan 700 may, ofcourse, have more or fewer entries and may accommodate more than the twodata block sizes shown in the figure. In the plan 700, streams 0-2 (710)are used to transmit the contents of small data blocks from the PEA 120to the Hub 110. Streams 3-7 (720) are used to transmit the contents oflarger data blocks from the PEA 120 to the Hub 110. Streams 8-10 (730),on the other hand, are used to transmit the contents of small datablocks from the Hub 110 to the PEA 120. Streams 11-15 (740) are used totransmit the contents of larger data blocks from the Hub 110 to the PEA120.

To avoid collisions, some of the streams are reserved for PEAs desiringto attach to the network and the rest are reserved for PEAs alreadyattached to the network. With such an arrangement, a PEA 120 knowswhether and what type of communication is scheduled by the Hub 110 basedon a combination of the MAC address 610 and the stream number 620.

FIG. 7B is a detailed diagram of an exemplary stream usage assignment bythe LLT 440 in an implementation consistent with the present invention.The LLT 440 assigns different streams to different communicationpurposes, reserving the streams with small block size for status, andusing the streams with larger block size for snippets. For example, theLLT 440 may use four streams (4-7 and 12-15) for the transmission ofsnippets in each direction, two for odd parity snippets and two for evenparity snippets. In other implementations consistent with the presentinvention, the LLT 440 uses different numbers of streams of each parityand direction.

The use of more than one stream for the same snippet allows a snippet tobe sent in more than one form. For example, the LLT 440 may send asnippet in its actual form through one stream and in a form with bytescomplemented and in reverse order through the other stream. Thealternating use of different transformations of a snippet more evenlydistributes transmission errors among the bits of the snippet as theyare received, and hence facilitates the reconstruction of a snippet frommultiple corrupted received versions. The receiver always knows whichform of the snippet was transmitted based on its stream number.

The LLT 440 partitions the streams into two disjoint subsets, one foruse with Hub 110 assigned MAC addresses 750 and the other for use withattaching PEAs' self-selected MAC addresses (AMACs) 760. Both the LLT440 and the LLD 450 know the size and direction of each stream, but theLLT 450 is responsible for determining how the streams are used, how MACnumbers are assigned and used, and assuring that no two PEAs 120 respondto the same token (containing a MAC address and stream number)transmitted by the Hub 110. One exception to this includes the Hub's useof its MAC address to broadcast its heartbeat 770 (described below) toall PEAs 120.

Exemplary Communication

FIG. 8 is an exemplary diagram of a TDMA frame structure 800 of a TDMAplan consistent with the present invention. The TDMA frame 800 startswith a beacon 810, and then alternates token broadcasts 820 and datatransfers 830. The Hub 110 broadcasts the beacon 810 at the start ofeach TDMA frame 800. The PEAs 120 use the beacon 810, which may containa unique identifier of the Hub 110, to synchronize to the Hub 110.

Each token 640 (FIG. 6) transmitted by the Hub 110 in a token broadcast820 includes a MAC address 610 (FIG. 6) and a stream number 620 for thedata buffer 630 transfer that follows. The MAC address 610 and streamnumber 620 in the token 640 together specify a particular PEA 120 totransmit or receive data, or, in the case of the Hub's MAC address 610,specify no, many, or all PEAs to receive data from the Hub 110(depending on the stream number). The stream number 620 in the token 640indicates the direction of the data transfer 830 (Hub 110 to PEA 120 orPEA 120 to Hub 110), the number of bytes to be transferred, and the datasource (for the sender) and the appropriate empty data block (for thereceiver).

The TDMA plan controls the maximum number of bytes that can be sent in adata transfer 830. Not all of the permitted bytes need to be used in thedata transfer 830, however, so the Hub 110 may schedule a status blockin the initial segment of a TDMA time interval that is large enough tosend a snippet. The Hub 110 and PEA 120 treat any left over bytes asno-ops to mark time. Any PEA 120 not involved in the data transfer usesall of the data transfer 830 bytes to mark time while waiting for thenext token 640. The PEA 120 may also power down non-essential circuitryat this time to reduce power consumption.

FIG. 9A is an exemplary diagram of communication processing fortransmitting a single data block from the Hub 110 to a PEA 120 accordingto the TDMA plan of FIG. 8. FIGS. 9B and 9C are flowcharts of the Hub110 and PEA 120 activities, respectively, of FIG. 9A. The referencenumbers in FIG. 9A correspond to the flowchart steps of FIGS. 9B and 9C.

With regard to the Hub activity, the Hub 110 responds to a token commandin the TDMA plan [step 911] (FIG. 9B) by determining the location of thenext data block 600 to send or receive [step 912]. The Hub 110 reads theblock's MAC address 610 and stream number 620 [step 913] and generates atoken 640 from the MAC address and stream number using FEC [step 914].The Hub 110 then waits for the time for sending a token 640 in the TDMAplan (i.e., a token broadcast 820 in FIG. 8) [step 915] and broadcaststhe token 640 to the PEAs 120 [step 916]. If the stream number 620 inthe token 640 is zero (i.e., a NO-DATA-TRANSFER token), no PEA 120 willrespond and the Hub 110 waits for the next token command in the TDMAplan [step 911].

If the stream number 620 is non-zero, however, the Hub 110 determinesthe size and direction of the data transmission from the stream number620 and waits for the time for sending the data in the TDMA plan (i.e.,a data transfer 830) [step 917]. Later, when instructed to do so by theTDMA plan (i.e., after the PEA 120 identified by the MAC address 610 hashad enough time to prepare), the Hub 110 transmits the contents of thedata buffer 630 [step 918]. The Hub 110 then prepares for the next tokencommand in the TDMA plan [step 919].

With regard to the PEA activity, the PEA 120 reaches a token command inthe TDMA plan [step 921] (FIG. 9C). The PEA 120 then listens for theforward error-corrected token 640, having a MAC address 610 and streamnumber 620, transmitted by the Hub 110 [step 922]. The PEA 120 decodesthe MAC address from the forward error-corrected token [step 923] and,if it is not the PEA's 120 MAC address, sleeps through the next datatransfer 830 in the TDMA plan [step 924]. Otherwise, the PEA 120 alsodecodes the stream number 620 from the token 640.

All PEAs 120 listen for the Hub heartbeat that the Hub 110 broadcastswith a token containing the Hub's MAC address 610 and the heartbeatstream 770. During attachment (described in more detail below), the PEA120 may have two additional active MAC addresses 610, the one itselected for attachment and the one the Hub 110 assigned to the PEA 120.The streams are partitioned between these three classes of MAC addresses610, so the PEA 120 may occasionally find that the token 640 contains aMAC address 610 that the PEA 120 supports, but that the stream number620 in the token 640 is not one that the PEA 120 supports for this MACaddress 610. In this case, the PEA 120 sleeps through the next datatransfer 830 in the TDMA plan [step 924].

Since the PEA 120 supports more than one MAC address 610, the PEA 120uses the MAC address 610 and the stream number 620 to identify asuitable empty data block [step 925]. The PEA 120 writes the MAC address610 and stream number 620 it received in the token 640 from the Hub 110into the data block [step 926]. The PEA 120 then determines the size anddirection of the data transmission from the stream number 620 and waitsfor the transmission of the data buffer 630 contents from the Hub 110during the next data transfer 830 in the TDMA plan [step 927]. The PEA120 stores the data in the data block [step 928], and then prepares forthe next token command in the TDMA plan [step 929].

FIGS. 9A-9C illustrate communication of a data block from the Hub 110 toa PEA 120. When the PEA 120 transfers a data block to the Hub 110,similar steps occur except that the Hub 110 first determines the nextdata block to receive (with its MAC address 610 and stream number 620)and the transmission of the data buffer 630 contents occurs in theopposite direction. The Hub 110 needs to arrange in advance forreceiving data from PEAs 120 by populating the MAC address 610 andstream number 620 into data blocks with empty data buffers 630, becausethe Hub 110 generates the tokens for receiving data as well as fortransmitting data.

FIGS. 10A and 10B are high-level diagrams of the states that the Hub 110and PEA 120 LLT 440 (FIG. 4) go through during a data transfer in animplementation consistent with the present invention. FIG. 10Aillustrates states of a Hub-to-PEA transfer and FIG. 10B illustratesstates of a PEA-to-Hub transfer.

During the Hub-to-PEA transfer (FIG. 10A), the Hub 110 cycles throughfour states: fill, send even parity, fill, and send odd parity. The fillstates indicate when the NI 430 (FIG. 4) may fill a data snippet. Theeven and odd send states indicate when the Hub 110 sends even numberedand odd numbered snippets to the PEA 120. The PEA 120 cycles through twostates: want even and want odd. The two states indicate the PEA's 120desire for data, with ‘want even’ indicating that the last snippetsuccessfully received had odd parity. The PEA 120 communicates itscurrent state to the Hub 110 via its status messages (i.e., the statechanges serve as ACKs). The Hub 110 waits for a state change in the PEA120 before it transitions to its next fill state.

During the PEA-to-Hub transfer (FIG. 10B), the Hub 110 cycles throughsix states: wait/listen for PEA-ready-to-send-even status, read even,send ACK and listen for status, wait/listen for PEA-ready-to-send-oddstatus, read odd, and send ACK and listen for status. According to thistransfer, the PEA 120 cannot transmit data until the Hub 110 requestsdata, which it will only do if it sees from the PEA's status that thePEA 120 has the next data block ready.

The four listen for status states schedule when the Hub 110 asks toreceive a status message from the PEA 120. The two ‘send ACK and listenfor status’ states occur after successful receipt of a data block by theHub 110, and in these two states the Hub 110 schedules both the sendingof Hub status to the PEA 120 and receipt of the PEA status. The PEAstatus informs the Hub 110 when the PEA 120 has successfully receivedthe Hub 110 status and has transitioned to the next ‘fill’ state.

Once the PEA 120 has prepared its next snippet, it changes its status to‘have even’ or ‘have odd’ as appropriate. When the Hub 110 detects thatthe PEA 120 has advanced to the fill state or to ‘have even/odd,’ itstops scheduling the sending of Hub status (ACK) to the PEA 120. If theHub 110 detects that the PEA 120 is in the ‘fill’ state, it transitionsto the following ‘listen for status’ state. If the PEA 120 has alreadyprepared a new snippet for transmission by the time the Hub 110 learnsthat its ACK was understood by the PEA 120, the Hub 110 skips the‘listen for status’ state and moves immediately to the next appropriate‘read even/odd’ state. In this state, the Hub 110 receives the snippetfrom the PEA 120.

The PEA 120 cycles through four states: fill, have even, fill, and haveodd (i.e., the same four states the Hub 110 cycles through when sendingsnippets). The fill states indicate when the NI 430 (FIG. 4) can fill adata snippet. During the fill states, the PEA 110 sets its status to‘have nothing to send.’ The PEA 120 does not transition its status to‘have even’ or ‘have odd’ until the next snippet is filled and ready tosend to the Hub 110. These two status states indicate the parity of thesnippet that the PEA 120 is ready to send to the Hub 110. When the Hub110 receives a status of ‘have even’ or ‘have odd’ and the last snippetit successfully received had the opposite parity, it schedules thereceipt of data, which it thereafter acknowledges with a change ofstatus that it sends to the PEA 120.

Exemplary Attachment Processing

The Hub 110 communicates with only attached PEAs 120 that have anassigned MAC address 610. An unattached PEA can attach to the Hub 110when the Hub 110 gives it an opportunity to do so. Periodically, the Hub110 schedules attachment opportunities for unattached PEAs that wish toattach to the Hub 110, using a small set of attach MAC (AMAC) addressesand a small set of streams dedicated to this purpose.

After selecting one of the designated AMAC addresses 610 at random toidentify itself and preparing to send a small, possibly forwarderror-corrected, “attach-interest” message and a longer, possiblychecksummed, “attach-request” message using this AMAC and the properattach stream numbers 620, the PEA 120 waits for the Hub 110 tosuccessfully read the attach-interest and then the attach-requestmessages. Reading of a valid attach-interest message by the Hub 110causes the Hub 110 believe that there is a PEA 120 ready to send thelonger (and hence more likely corrupted) attach-request.

Once a valid attach-interest is received, the Hub 110 schedules frequentreceipt of the attach-request until it determines the contents of theattach-request, either by receiving the block intact with a validchecksum or by reconstructing the sent attach-request from two or morereceived instances of the sent attach-request. The Hub 110 then assignsa MAC address to the PEA 120, sending the address to the PEA 120 usingits AMAC address.

The Hub 110 confirms receipt of the MAC address by scheduling thereading of a small, possibly forward error-corrected,attach-confirmation from the PEA 120 at its new MAC address 610. The Hub110 follows this by sending a small, possibly forward error-corrected,confirmation to the PEA 120 at its MAC address so that the PEA 120 knowsit is attached. The PEA 120 returns a final small, possibly forwarderror-corrected, confirmation acknowledgement to the Hub 110 so that theHub 110, which is in control of all scheduled activity, has fullknowledge of the state of the PEA 120. This MAC address remains assignedto that PEA 120 for the duration of the time that the PEA 120 isattached.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are flowcharts of Hub and PEA attachment processing,respectively, consistent with the present invention. When the Hub 110establishes the network, its logic initializes the attachment processand, as long as the Hub 110 continues to function, periodically performsattachment processing. The Hub 110 periodically broadcasts heartbeatscontaining a Hub identifier (selecting a new heartbeat identifier valueeach time it reboots) and an indicator of the range of AMACs that can beselected from for the following attach opportunity [step 1110] (FIG.11). The Hub 110 schedules an attach-interest via a token that schedulesa small PEA-to-Hub transmission for each of the designated AMACs, sounattached PEAs may request attachment.

Each attaching PEA 120 selects a new AMAC at random from the indicatedrange when it hears the heartbeat. Because the Hub 110 may receive agarbled transmission whenever more than one PEA 120 transmits, the Hub110 occasionally indicates a large AMAC range (especially afterrebooting) so that at least one of a number of PEAs 120 may select aunique AMAC 610 and become attached. When no PEAs 120 have attached forsome period of time, however, the Hub 110 may select a small range ofAMACs 610 to reduce attachment overhead, assuming that PEAs 120 willarrive in its vicinity in at most small groups. The Hub 110 then listensfor a valid attach-interest from an unattached PEA [step 1120]. Theattach-interest is a PEA-to-Hub message having the AMAC address 610selected by the unattached PEA 120.

Upon receiving a valid attach interest, the Hub 110 schedules aPEA-to-Hub attach-request token with the PEA's AMAC 610 and reads thePEA's attach-request [step 1130]. Due to the low-power wirelessenvironment of the PAN 100, the attach-request transmission may takemore than one attempt and hence may require scheduling the PEA-to-Hubattach-request token more than once. When the Hub 110 successfullyreceives the attach-request from the PEA, it assigns a MAC address tothe PEA [step 1140]. In some cases, the Hub 110 chooses the MAC addressfrom the set of AMAC addresses.

The Hub 110 sends the new MAC address 610 in an attach-assignmentmessage to the now-identified PEA 120, still using the PEA's AMACaddress 610 and a stream number 620 reserved for this purpose. The Hub110 schedules and listens for an attach-confirmation response from thePEA 120 using the newly assigned MAC address 610 [step 1150].

Upon receiving the confirmation from the PEA 120, the Hub 110 sends itsown confirmation, acknowledging that the PEA 120 has switched to its newMAC, to the PEA 120 and waits for a final acknowledgment from the PEA120 [step 1160]. The Hub 110 continues to send the confirmation until itreceives the acknowledgment from the PEA 120 or until it times out. Ineach of the steps above, the Hub 110 counts the number of attempts itmakes to send or receive, and aborts the attachment effort if apredefined maximum number of attempts is exceeded. Upon receiving thefinal acknowledgment, the Hub 110 stops sending its attach confirmation,informs its NI 430 (FIG. 4) that the PEA 120 is attached, and beginsexchanging both data and keep-alive messages (described below) with thePEA 120.

When an unattached PEA 120 enters the network, its LLC 420 (FIG. 4)instructs its LLT 440 to initialize attachment. Unlike the Hub 110, thePEA 120 waits to be polled. The PEA 120 instructs its DCL 460 toactivate and associate the heartbeat stream 770 (FIG. 7B) with the Hub'sMAC address and waits for the heartbeat broadcast from the Hub 110 [step1210] (FIG. 12). The PEA 120 then selects a random AMAC address from therange indicated in the heartbeat to identify itself to the Hub 110 [step1220]. The PEA 120 instructs its DCL 460 to send an attach-interest andan attach-request data block to the Hub 110, and activate and associatethe streams with its AMAC address [step 1230]. The PEA 120 tells itsdriver to activate and respond to the selected AMAC address for theattach-assignment stream.

The unattached PEA 120 then waits for an attach-assignment with anassigned MAC address from the Hub 110 [step 1240]. Upon receiving theattach-assignment, the PEA 120 finds its Hub-assigned MAC address andtells its driver to use this MAC address to send an attach-confirmationto the Hub 110 to acknowledge receipt of its new MAC address [step1250], activate all attached-PEA streams for its new MAC address, anddeactivate the streams associated with its AMAC address.

The PEA 120 waits for an attach confirmation from the Hub 110 using thenew MAC address [step 1260] and, upon receiving it, sends a finalacknowledgment to the Hub 110 [step 1270]. The PEA 120 then tells its NI430 that it is attached.

The PEA 120, if it hears another heartbeat from the Hub 110 before itcompletes attachment, discards any prior communication and begins itsattachment processing over again with a new AMAC.

Exemplary Detachment and Reattachment Processing

The Hub 110 periodically informs all attached PEAs 120 that they areattached by sending them ‘keep-alive’ messages. The Hub 110 may send themessages at least as often as it transmits heartbeats. The Hub 110 maysend individual small, possibly forward error-corrected, keep-alivemessages to each attached PEA 120 when few PEAs 120 are attached, or maysend larger, possibly forward error-corrected, keep-alive messages togroups of PEAs 120.

Whenever the Hub 110 schedules tokens for PEA-to-Hub communications, itsets a counter to zero. The counter resets to zero each time the Hub 110successfully receives a block (either uncorrupted or reconstructed) fromthe PEA 120, and increments for unreadable blocks. If the counterexceeds a predefined threshold, the Hub 110 automatically detaches thePEA 120 without any negotiation with the PEA 120. After this happens,the Hub 110 no longer schedules data or status transfers to or from thePEA 120, and no longer sends it any keep-alive messages.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of PEA detachment and reattachment processingconsistent with the present invention. Each attached PEA 120 listens forHub heartbeat and keep-alive messages [step 1310]. When the PEA 120first attaches, and after receiving each keep-alive message, it resetsits heartbeat counter to zero [step 1320]. Each time the PEA 120 hears aheartbeat, it increments the heartbeat counter [step 1330]. If theheartbeat counter exceeds a predefined threshold, the PEA 120automatically assumes that the Hub 110 has detached it from the network100 [step 1340]. After this happens, the PEA 120 attempts to reattach tothe Hub 110 [step 1350], using attachment processing similar to thatdescribed with respect to FIGS. 11 and 12.

If the Hub 110 had not actually detached the PEA 120, then the attemptto reattach causes the Hub 110 to detach the PEA 120 so that the attemptto reattach can succeed. When the PEA 120 is out of range of the Hub110, it may not hear from the Hub 110 and, therefore, does not changestate or increment its heartbeat counter. The PEA 120 has no way todetermine whether the Hub 110 has detached it or how long the Hub 110might wait before detaching it. When the PEA 120 comes back into rangeof the Hub 110 and hears the Hub heartbeat (and keep-alive if sent), thePEA 120 then determines whether it is attached and attempts to reattachif necessary.

Conclusion

Systems and methods consistent with the present invention provide awireless personal area network that permit a host device to communicatewith a varying number of peripheral devices with minimal power andminimal interference from neighboring networks by using a customizedTDMA protocol. The host device uses tokens to facilitate thetransmission of data blocks through the network.

The foregoing description of exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention provides illustration and description, but is not intended tobe exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed.Modifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention. The scopeof the invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A portable endpoint device for use on a network,comprising: a first virtual device and a second virtual deviceintegrated in a same single unit and configured such that the firstvirtual device and the second virtual device are configured to allowcommunication therewith as virtually different physical devices despitebeing integrated in the same single unit; circuitry; and a transceiverin communication with the circuitry, the portable endpoint deviceconfigured to cause the transceiver to: receive, directlyendpoint-to-endpoint over a shared wireless area communication mediumutilizing at least one channel without passing through any intermediatenode such that no wireless routing occurs therebetween over the sharedwireless area communication medium, a first signal from another endpointdevice without being wireless sly routed therethrough to indicate theavailability of the another endpoint device for attachment over theshared wireless area communication medium, the first signal including aunique device identifier of the another endpoint device; send, to theanother endpoint device directly endpoint-to-endpoint over the sharedwireless area communication medium without passing through anyintermediate node such that no wireless routing occurs therebetween overthe hared wireless area communication medium, a second signal utilizingfirst scheduling-related information, the second signal including afirst one of a plurality of identifiers for unique identification inassociation with the portable endpoint device; receive, from the anotherendpoint device directly endpoint-to-endpoint over the shared wirelessarea communication medium without passing through any intermediate nodesuch that no wireless routing occurs therebetween over the sharedwireless area communication medium, a third signal that is sent inresponse to the second signal, the third signal including the first oneof the identifiers for unique identification in association with theportable endpoint device; and receive, from the another endpoint devicedirectly endpoint-to-endpoint over the shared wireless areacommunication medium utilizing at least one other channel different fromthe at least one channel without passing through any intermediate nodesuch that no wireless routing occurs therebetween over the sharedwireless area communication medium, data utilizing a second one of theidentifiers for identification in association with the portable endpointdevice, for data transfer in connection with a group owned by theanother endpoint device and including at least the portable endpointdevice and the another endpoint device.